True polar wander in mantle convection models with multiple, mobile continents

The geologic record supports numerous instances during which continents apparently moved at speeds significantly faster than any of today's tectonic plates. While the time dependence of convective driving forces likely explains some such observations, rapid motions of large continents in particular are often attributed to true polar wander (TPW). In order to gauge the potential for connections between continents, mantle temperature anomalies, and polar motion, we present the first calculations of TPW derived from models that couple mantle convection with multiple, mobile continents. We find that the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents can lead to two types of TPW, driven either by a well developed hot upwelling axis that creates a stable maximum moment of inertia, or by the homogenization of mantle thermal structure following continent dispersal that leads to destabilization of the principal axis and possible large magnitude polar wander. These supercontinent-modulated thermal heterogeneities drive model TPW events as large as 90° at rates of up to 2.5° Ma^− 1. Such magnitudes and speeds are greater than those attained in similar models lacking continents, but comparable to those for episodes inferred from paleomagnetic data for some large continents in the past.     

Influence of supercontinents on deep mantle flow

The assembly of supercontinents should impact mantle flow fields significantly, affecting the distribution of subduction, upwelling plumes, lower mantle chemical heterogeneities, and thus plausibly contributing to voluminous volcanism that is often associated with their breakup. Alternative explanations for this volcanism include insulation by the continent and thus elevated subcontinental mantle temperatures. Here we model the thermal and dynamic impact of supercontinents on Earth-like mobile-lid convecting systems. We confirm that insulating supercontinents (over 3000 km extent) can impact mantle temperatures, but show the scale of temperature anomaly is significantly less for systems with strongly temperature-dependent viscosities and mobile continents. Additionally, for continents over 8000 km, mantle temperatures are modulated by the development of small-scale convecting systems under the continent, which arise due to inefficient lateral convection of heat at these scales. We demonstrate a statistically robust association between rising plumes supercontinental interiors for a variety of continental configurations, driven largely by the tendency of subducting slabs to lock onto continental margins. The distribution of slabs also affects the spatial positioning of deep mantle thermochemical anomalies, which demonstrate stable configurations in either the sub-supercontinent or intraoceanic domains. We find externally forced rifting scenarios unable to generate significant melt rates, and thus the ultimate cause of supercontinent breakup related volcanism is probably related to dynamic continental rifting in response to mantle reconfiguration events.     

Earth's tectonic history revisited in the light of episodic misfits between plate network and mantle convection

Episodic plate reorganisations abruptly change plate boundary configurations. To illustrate their role, we review the plate reorganisations that appear in the present-day oceans and in the reconstructed Tethys ocean. These time periods cover the dispersal of the Pangea super-continent and the collisions with Eurasia that foreshadow a new super-continent. Plate reorganisations have played a fundamental role in the tectonic history of the Earth, being responsible for continental break-up and, after oceanic spreading, for continental collisions. As a result, they governed the formation and dispersal of super-continents. We observe a bulk polarity in plate motion that governs continental collision and the opposite bulk polarity in plate reorganisation that governs continental break-up. Such opposite polarities show in the tectonic history that we follow since the 550 Ma formation of the Gondwana super-continent.In order to decipher the rules that govern plate reorganisation, we investigate the distribution of spreading and subduction that derives from the current plate motion. We observe a mismatch between the evolution tendency of the plate boundary network and convection in the deep mantle. The actual network of plate boundaries illustrates a compromise between the two. Based on the opposite polarities in plate motion and plate reorganisation, we propose that this compromise is maintained by plate reorganisations that counterbalance free evolution of the network in abruptly changing its boundaries. We propose that plate reorganisations are basically caused by the mismatch between the free evolution of the plate boundary network and the current convection pattern in the deep mantle.Evidence on Proterozoic rifting and continent collisions allows dating the oldest known plate reorganisation around 2 Ga, which is the age of the oldest known super-continent. Based on the geology of the Archean before 3 Ga, mantle convection appears limited under a greenstone cover and different from the current mantle convection. The distribution of the diapiric granitoids that intrude this cover points to a honeycomb convection centred on downwelling sites separated by diffuse upwelling, which fits the theory on the early Earth mantle convection when plates did not cover the globe. We propose that the plate reorganisation regime appeared sometime between 3 and 2 Ga.     

Interactive visualization of 3D mantle convection

The current availability of thousands of processors at many high performance computing centers has made it feasible to carry out, in near real time, interactive visualization of 3D mantle convection temperature fields, using grid configurations having 10–100 million unknowns. We will describe the technical details involved in carrying out this endeavor, using the facilities available at the Laboratory of Computational Science and Engineering (LCSE) at the University of Minnesota. These technical details involve the modification of a parallel mantle convection program, ACuTEMan; the usage of client–server socket based programs to transfer upwards of a terabyte of time series scientific model data using a local network; a rendering system containing multiple nodes; a high resolution PowerWall display, and the interactive visualization software, DSCVR. We have found that working in an interactive visualizastion mode allows for fast and efficient analysis of mantle convection results. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Volume rendering visualization of 3D spherical mantle convection with an unstructured mesh

We propose a new approach to utilize the algorithm of hardware-assisted visibility sorting (HAVS) in the 3D volume rendering of spherical mantle convection simulation results over unstructured grid configurations. We will also share our experience in using three different spherical convection codes and then taking full advantages of the enhanced efficiency of visualization techniques, which are based on the HAVS techniques and related transfer functions. The transfer function is a powerful tool designed specifically for editing and exploring large-scale datasets coming from numerical computation for a given environmental setting, and generates hierarchical data structures, which will be used in the future for fast access of GPU visualization facilities. This method will meet the coming urgent needs of real-time visualization of 3D mantle convection, by avoiding the demands of huge amount of I/O space and intensive network traffic over distributed parallel terascale or petascale architecture.     

Styles of mantle convection and their influence on planetary evolution

Mantle convection is the method of heat elimination for silicate mantles in terrestrial bodies, provided they are not too small or too hot. Bodies that are small (～Moon or smaller, possibly even Mercury) may rely largely on conduction or melt migration, and bodies that are very hot (Io, very early Earth) may use massive melt migration (magma oceans) and heat pipes. In the standard, simple picture, we can use scaling laws to determine the secular cooling of a planet, likelihood and form of volcanism, and the possibility of a core dynamo. Contrary to popular belief, small planets do not cool faster than larger planets (provided they convect) but they do tend to have a slightly lower internal temperature at all times and thus may cease to be volcanically active at an earlier epoch. On the other hand, a larger volume fraction of a small planet may be involved in melt generation. However, our understanding of heat transfer by mantle convection is limited by three very important, largely unsolved problems: The complexities of rheology, the effects of compositional gradients, and the effects of phase transitions, especially melting. The most striking manifestation of the role of rheology lies in the difference between a mobile lid mode (plate tectonics for Earth) and a stagnant lid mode (other large terrestrial bodies). This difference may arise because of the role of water, but perhaps also because of melting, or size (gravity), or the vagaries of history. It has profound effects for the differences in history of Earth, Venus and Mars, including their surface geology, volatile reservoirs and magnetic fields. Since thermal convection is driven by small density differences, it can also be greatly altered or limited by compositional or phase effects. Melt migration introduces additional complications to the heat transport as well as being a source for the irreversible differentiation that might promote layering. Our limited understanding and ability to model these processes continues to limit the development of a predictive framework for the differences among the terrestrial planets.     

洋壳俯冲过程中的地幔楔上升对流：来自芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩早期变质的证据

苏鲁超高压变质地体中发现了大量包裹在超高压（UHP）变质片麻岩和混合岩中的造山带石榴橄榄岩。根据它们的野外产出特征和全岩地球化学成分,其中一部分石榴橄榄岩的原岩来自于亏损地幔,后来被卷入俯冲陆壳并经受过俯冲陆壳产生的熔/流体的交代。但是,对这些岩石早期的亏损过程尚缺乏清晰的认识。本文报道了东海芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩早期变质演化的新证据。根据详细的变质反应结构观察和矿物成分研究,芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩在经历高压低温俯冲带型超高压变质之前经历了至少两期变质演化。其原岩矿物组合由石榴子石变斑晶的高Ca-Cr核部及其中包裹的高Mg单斜辉石、高Al-Cr斜方辉石和高Mg-Ni橄榄石所记录;指示芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩的原岩为高温-高压的富集石榴子石二辉橄榄岩。第二期矿物组合为包裹在低Cr变斑晶石榴子石幔部和细粒新生石榴子石核部的大量富Al铬铁矿和高Mg低Ni橄榄石以及少量高Mg斜方辉石。该期组合未发现单斜辉石,表明岩石随后被转变为高温低压的难熔尖晶石方辉橄榄岩或尖晶石纯橄岩。芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩的早期变质演化记录了它们被卷入大陆板片俯冲带之前的地幔楔上升对流过程。笔者认为芝麻坊石榴子石二辉橄榄岩的原岩来源于早期俯冲大洋板片之上的深部高温富集地幔楔,洋壳俯冲过程中的地幔楔对流导致其上升到弧后或岛弧之下的地幔楔浅部,减压部分熔融使原本富集的石榴子石二辉橄榄岩转化为难熔的尖晶石方辉橄榄岩或尖晶石纯橄岩。     

Geochemistry of lamprophyres at the Daping gold deposit,Yunnan Province,China: Constraints on the timing of gold mineralization and evidence for mantle convection in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Cenozoic lamprophyre dykes occur widely along the Ailao-Shan-Red-River (ASRR) shear zone related to the Indian–Eurasian collision. Two generations of lamprophyres have been found at the Daping gold deposit in the southern part of the ASRR shear zone and have been investigated by using phlogopite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and whole-rock major and trace element as well as Sr and Nd isotope geochemical analyses. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of phlogopite from the two generations of lamprophyres bracket the emplacement of auriferous quartz veins in the Daping deposit between 36.8 ± 0.2 Ma and 29.6 ± 0.2 Ma, consistent with the timing of gold mineralization in other parts of the ASRR shear zone. Geochemical data suggest that these lamprophyres most likely originated from a subduction-modified mantle source consisting of phlogopite-bearing spinel lherzolite, which underwent partial melting with contributions from crust materials. In particular, the second generation lamprophyres are characterized by more primitive geochemical features than the first, suggesting that secular source evolution probably resulted from post-collisional slab break-off mantle convection and remelting from ascending asthenosphere after subducted lithosphere break-off. Widespread and episodic occurrences of lamprophyres and other potassic volcanism in the eastern Tibetan Plateau were probably related to the onset of transtensional tectonics along the ASRR shear zone during Oligocene. A genetic model involving transtensional tectonics has been proposed for lamprophyres and gold mineralization in the ASRR shear zone.     

伴随数据同化方法及其在地幔对流中的应用

伴随数据同化方法是一个基于梯度法的反演技巧,尤其适用于对非线性问题的反演。最近几年里,该方法在地球物理问题中的应用取得了长足发展。文中试图从理论推导到其在地幔对流中的应用对该方法进行系统阐述,并附例图加以说明。伴随数据同化方法的基础是扰动理论,将模型输出与观测值的差别归因于模型输入中存在的误差,而该输入误差可以通过输出误差的最小二乘对输入条件的一阶倒数(梯度)来表示,这个联系就称作伴随算子。非线性问题的反演需要用到多次迭代;对输入误差的预估程度会直接影响计算和结果收敛的速度。作为描述当前地幔结构最有力证据的地震层析成像技术的不断进步,不论是在区域还是全球尺度上,都为地幔对流的反演提供了一个出发点。通过进一步同化或者比较相关的地质学证据特别是地表动力沉降观测,地幔对流反演可以克服目前仍然存在的地幔动力学各参数的不确定性的影响,从而进一步揭示壳幔系统的动力学机制。讨论的一个实际的例子是如何使用该方法反推出Farallon板块于晚白垩世时期在北美板块下的平俯冲过程以及该研究所导致的地球物理学及地质学意义。     

白垩纪大火成岩省与地幔对流

白垩纪事件是全球非常明显和重要的一次地质突发事件,包括洋壳的超巨量形成,地磁正超时达41Ma之久(124~83 Ma),海水温度大幅度升高,黑色页岩沉积和石油形成的大量增长,海平面的快速上升,大气CO2水平的急剧升高,以及伴生的生物灭绝事件等。中—新生代的大火成岩省与冈瓦纳超大陆的裂解伴生,是超级地幔热柱产生的结果,而与欧亚超大陆的形成伴生分散火成岩省,是超级冷地幔下降流的结果,两者的联合构成全地幔对流的格局。全地幔对流模型为白垩纪地质演化、生物演化和环境演化的突变提供地球深部过程的约束。     

藏北新生代玄武质火山岩起源的深部机制——大陆俯冲和板片断离驱动的地幔对流上涌模式

近年来地震层析成像揭示出可可西里-西昆仑中新世-第四纪钾质火山岩带下方存在一个深达900km的巨型地幔低速体,空间上与新特提斯洋和印度大陆俯冲断离板片沉降形成的冷地幔下降流共存(Replumaz et al.,2010a,b),两者构成统一的地幔对流体系。研究表明,羌塘古近纪(60~34Ma)钠质玄武岩和高钾钙碱性玄武岩均以富含Ti O2、P2O5和大离子亲石元素为特征,主体具有与OIB相近的微量元素组成和弱亏损的Sr、Nd同位素特征,指示岩浆起源于软流圈的上涌熔融,但Nb、Ta的弱亏损表明岩浆源区有岩石圈地幔熔融组分的贡献。羌塘(32~26Ma)碱性钾质玄武岩与可可西里和西昆仑中新世以来喷发的钾质玄武岩的地球化学性质相近,不相容元素比值和Sr、Nd同位素组成指示岩浆起源于古俯冲地幔楔的低程度熔融。这些特征表明藏北软流圈上涌作用始于古近纪,初始上涌中心位于羌塘地体之下。计算表明藏北古近纪火山岩距离当时的印度大陆北缘的最大和最小距离约为1250km和700km,与现今可可西里地幔低速体的南、北边界与印度大陆北缘的距离相近,支持羌塘古近纪地幔上涌作用也是受藏南冷地幔下降流所驱动。青藏高原在南北缩短过程中不仅表现为软流圈自西向东挤出流动,地幔垂向对流也是其重要的运动形式,在地幔上升流形成的藏北热幔区内,地壳的水平缩短增厚与岩石圈地幔的伸展减薄呈脉动式共存。藏南冷地幔下降流和藏北热地幔上升流的持续北移是导致藏北后碰撞火山岩时空迁移的主要控制因素。     

The evolution of continental roots in numerical thermo-chemical mantle convection models including differentiation by partial melting

Incorporating upper mantle differentiation through decompression melting in a numerical mantle convection model, we demonstrate that a compositionally distinct root consisting of depleted peridotite can grow and remain stable during a long period of secular cooling. Our modeling results show that in a hot convecting mantle partial melting will produce a compositional layering in a relatively short time of about 50 Ma. Due to secular cooling mantle differentiation finally stops before 1 Ga. The resulting continental root remains stable on a billion year time scale due to the combined effects of its intrinsically lower density and temperature-dependent rheology. Two different parameterizations of the melting phase-diagram are used in the models. The results indicate that during the Archaean melting occurred on a significant scale in the deep regions of the upper mantle, at pressures in excess of 15 GPa. The compositional depths of continental roots extend to 400 km depending on the potential temperature and the type of phase-diagram parameterization used in the model. The results reveal a strong correlation between lateral variations of temperature and the thickness of the continental root. This shows that cold regions in cratons are stabilized by a thick depleted root.     

Phlogopite in mantle xenoliths and kimberlite from the Grib pipe,Arkhangelsk province,Russia:Evidence for multi-stage mantle metasomatism and origin of phlogopite in kimberlite

We present petrography and mineral chemistry for both phlogopite,from mantle-derived xenoliths(garnet peridotite,eclogite and clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks)and for megacryst,macrocryst and groundmass flakes from the Grib kimberlite in the Arkhangelsk diamond province of Russia to provide new insights into multi-stage metasomatism in the subcratonic lithospheric mantle(SCLM)and the origin of phlogopite in kimberlite.Based on the analysed xenoliths,phlogopite is characterized by several generations.The first generation(Phil)occurs as coarse,discrete grains within garnet peridotite and eclogite xenoliths and as a rock-forming mineral within clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths.The second phlogopite generation(Phl2)occurs as rims and outer zones that surround the Phil grains and as fine flakes within kimberlite-related veinlets filled with carbonate,serpentine,chlorite and spinel.In garnet peridotite xenoliths,phlogopite occurs as overgrowths surrounding garnet porphyroblasts,within which phlogopite is associated with Cr-spinel and minor carbonate.In eclogite xenoliths,phlogopite occasionally associates with carbonate bearing veinlet networks.Phlogopite,from the kimberlite,occurs as megacrysts,macrocrysts,microcrysts and fine flakes in the groundmass and matrix of kimberlitic pyroclasts.Most phlogopite grains within the kimberlite are characterised by signs of deformation and form partly fragmented grains,which indicates that they are the disintegrated fragments of previously larger grains.Phil,within the garnet peridotite and clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths,is characterised by low Ti and Cr contents(TiO_21 wt.%,Cr_2 O_31 wt.% and Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg+ Fe)92)typical of primary peridotite phlogopite in mantle peridotite xenoliths from global kimberlite occurrences.They formed during SCLM metasomatism that led to a transformation from garnet peridotite to clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks and the crystallisation of phlogopite and high-Cr clinopyroxene megacrysts before the generation of host-kimberlite magmas.One of the possible processes to generate low-Ti-Cr phlogopite is via the replacement of garnet during its interaction with a metasomatic agent enriched in K and H_2O.Rb-Sr isotopic data indicates that the metasomatic agent had a contribution of more radiogenic source than the host-kimberlite magma.Compared with peridotite xenoliths,eclogite xenoliths feature low-Ti phlogopites that are depleted in Cr_2O_3 despite a wider range of TiO_2 concentrations.The presence of phlogopite in eclogite xenoliths indicates that metasomatic processes affected peridotite as well as eclogite within the SCLM beneath the Grib kimberlite.Phl2 has high Ti and Cr concentrations(TiO_22 wt.%,Cr_2O_31 wt.% and Mg# = 100× Mg/(Mg + Fe)92)and compositionally overlaps with phlogopite from polymict brecc:ia xenoliths that occur in global kimberlite formations.These phlogopites are the product of kimberlitic magma and mantle rock interaction at mantle depths where Phl2 overgrew Phil grains or crystallized directly from stalled batches of kimberlitic magmas.Megacrysts,most macrocrysts and microcrysts are disintegrated phlogopite fragments from metasomatised peridotite and eclogite xenoliths.Fine phlogopite flakes within kimberlite groundmass represent mixing of high-Ti-Cr phlogopite antecrysts and high-Ti and low-Cr kimberlitic phlogopite with high Al and Ba contents that may have formed individual grains or overgrown antecrysts.Based on the results of this study,we propose a schematic model of SCLM metasomatism involving phlogopite crystallization,megacryst formation,and genesis of kimberlite magmas as recorded by the Grib pipe.     

On the evolution of terrestrial planets:Bi-stability,stochastic effects,and the non-uniqueness of tectonic states

The Earth is the only body in the solar system for which significant observational constraints are accessible to such a degree that they can be used to discriminate between competing models of Earth's tectonic evolution.It is a natural tendency to use observations of the Earth to inform more general models of planetary evolution.However,our understating of Earth's evolution is far from complete.In recent years,there has been growing geodynamic and geochemical evidence that suggests that plate tectonics may not have operated on the early Earth,with both the timing of its onset and the length of its activity far from certain.Recently,the potential of tectonic bi-stability(multiple stable,energetically allowed solutions)has been shown to be dynamically viable,both from analytical analysis and through numeric experiments in two and three dimensions.This indicates that multiple tectonic modes may operate on a single planetary body at different times within its temporal evolution.It also allows for the potential that feedback mechanisms between the internal dynamics and surface processes(e.g.,surface temperature changes driven by long term climate evolution),acting at different thermal evolution times,can cause terrestrial worlds to alternate between multiple tectonic states over giga-year timescales.The implication within this framework is that terrestrial planets have the potential to migrate through tectonic regimes at similar‘thermal evolution times'(e.g.,points were they have a similar bulk mantle temperature and energies),but at very different'temporal times'(time since planetary formation).It can be further shown that identical planets at similar stages of their evolution may exhibit different tectonic regimes due to random variations.Here,we will discuss constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Earth and present a novel framework of planetary evolution that moves toward probabilistic arguments based on general physical principals,as opposed to particular rheologies,and incorporates the potential of tectonic regime transitions and multiple tectonics states being viable at equivalent physical and chemical conditions.     

On the formation of continental silicic melts in thermochemical mantle convection models: implications for early Earth

Seafloor magnetotelluric (MT) data were collected at seven sites across the Hawaiian hot spot swell, spread approximately evenly between 120 and 800 km southwest of the Hawaiian-Emperor island chain. All data are consistent with an electrical strike direction of 300°, aligned along the seamount chain, and are well fit using two-dimensional (2D) inversion. The major features of the 2D electrical model are a resistive lithosphere underlain by a conductive lower mantle, and a narrow, conductive, ‘plume’ connecting the surface of the islands to the lower mantle. This plume is required; without it the swell bathymetry produces a large divergence of the along-strike and across-strike components of the MT fields, which is not seen in the data. The plume radius appears to be less than 100 km, and its resistivity of around 10 Ωm, extending to a depth of 150 km, is consistent with a bulk melt fraction of 5–10%.A seismic low velocity region (LVR) observed by Laske et al. [Laske, G., Phipp Morgan, J., Orcutt, J.A., 1999. First results from the Hawaiian SWELL experiment, Geophys. Res. Lett. 26, 3397–3400] at depths centered around 60 km and extending 300 km from the islands is not reflected in our inverse model, which extends high lithospheric resistivities to the edge of the conductive plume. Forward modeling shows that resistivities in the seismic LVR can be lowered at most to 30 Ωm, suggesting a maximum of 1% connected melt and probably less. However, a model of hot subsolidus lithosphere of 10² Ωm (1450–1500 °C) within the seismic LVR increasing to an off-swell resistivity of >10³ Ωm (<1300 °C) fits the MT data adequately and is also consistent with the 5% drop in seismic velocities within the LVR. This suggests a ‘hot, dry lithosphere’ model of thermal rejuvination, or possibly underplated lithosphere depleted in volatiles due to melt extraction, either of which is derived from a relatively narrow mantle plume source of about 100 km radius. A simple thermal buoyancy calculation shows that the temperature structure implied by the electrical and seismic measurements is in quantitative agreement with the swell bathymetry.     

汉诺坝玄武岩及幔源包体对大陆地幔不均一性的指示

了解大陆地幔的不均一性对于理解地壳成分再循环、壳-幔相互作用等过程至关重要。本文通过对华北克拉通北缘汉诺坝地区来自不同地幔深度幔源岩石（玄武岩及橄榄岩和辉石岩包体）的研究进行综述,探讨了地幔在垂向上成分的不均一性特征。汉诺坝玄武岩的研究揭示了汉诺坝地区软流圈顶部存在再循环的碳酸盐化榴辉岩以及岩石圈底部具有富集的古老洋壳和沉积物成分。另外,玄武岩携带的橄榄岩和多类型辉石岩包体记录了不同来源（蚀变洋壳、沉积碳酸盐岩、碎屑沉积物、拆沉下地壳、软流圈）且不同成分（硅酸盐、碳酸盐）的熔/流体活动。富集地壳来源的熔/流体加入明显影响了汉诺坝地区陆下地幔成分的均质性,使得陆下地幔在微米至千米尺度存在明显的成分不均一特征。汉诺坝地区陆下地幔不均一性的认识为了解地壳物质再循环提供了绝佳的窗口。

     

Chalcophile element partitioning between sulfide phases and hydrous mantle melt: Applications to mantle melting and the formation of ore deposits

Understanding the geochemical behavior of chalcophile elements in magmatic processes is hindered by the limited partition coefficients between sulfide phases and silicate melt, in particular at conditions relevant to partial melting of the hydrated, metasomatized upper mantle. In this study, the partitioning of elements Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Ag, and Pb between sulfide liquid, monosulfide solid solution (MSS), and hydrous mantle melt has been investigated at 1200 °C/1.5 GPa and oxygen fugacity ranging from FMQ−2 to FMQ+1 in a piston-cylinder apparatus. The determined partition coefficients between sulfide liquid and hydrous mantle melt are: 750–1500 for Cu; 600–1200 for Ni; 35–42 for Co; 35–53 for Pb; and 1–2 for Zn, As, and Mo. The partition coefficients between MSS and hydrous mantle melt are: 380–500 for Cu; 520–750 for Ni; ∼50 for Co; <0.5 for Zn; 0.3–6 for Pb; 0.1–2 for As; 1–2 for Mo; and >34 for Ag. The variation of the data is primarily due to differences in oxygen fugacity. These partitioning data in conjunction with previous data are applied to partial melting of the upper mantle and the formation of magmatic-hydrothermal Cu–Au deposits and magmatic sulfide deposits.I show that the metasomatized arc mantle may no longer contain sulfide after >10–14% melt extraction but is still capable of producing the Cu concentrations in the primitive arc basalts, and that the comparable Cu concentrations in primitive arc basalts and in MORB do not necessarily imply similar oxidation states in their source regions.Previous models proposed for producing Cu- and/or Au-rich magmas have been reassessed, with the conclusions summarized as follows. (1) Partial melting of the oxidized (fO₂ > FMQ), metasomatized arc mantle with sulfide exhaustion at degrees >10–14% may not generate Cu-rich, primitive arc basalts. (2) Partial melting of sulfide-bearing cumulates in the root of thickened lower continental crust or lithospheric mantle does not typically generate Cu- and/or Au-rich magmas, but they do have equivalent potential as normal arc magmas in forming magmatic-hydrothermal Cu–Au deposits in terms of their Cu–Au contents. (3) It is not clear whether partial melting of subducting metabasalts generates Cu-rich adakitic magmas, however adakitic magmas may extract Cu and Au via interaction with mantle peridotite. Furthermore, partial melting of sulfide-bearing cumulates in the deep oceanic crust may be able to generate Cu- and Au-rich magmas. (4) The stabilization of MSS during partial melting may explain the genetic link between Au-Cu mineralization and the metasomatized lithospheric mantle.The chalcophile element tonnage, ratio, and distribution in magmatic sulfide deposits depend on a series of factors. This study reveals that oxygen fugacity also plays an important role in controlling Cu and Ni tonnage and Cu/Ni ratio in magmatic sulfide deposits. Cobalt, Zn, As, Sn, Sb, Mo, Ag, Pb, and Bi concentrations and their ratios in sulfide, due to their different partitioning behavior between sulfide liquid and MSS, can be useful indices for the distribution of platinum-group elements and Au in magmatic sulfide deposits.     

Ubiquitous interactive visualization of 3D mantle convection using a web-portal with Java and Ajax framework

We have developed a new strategy and espouse a novel paradigm for large-scale computing and real-time interactive visualization. This philosophy calls for intense interactive sessions for a couple of hours at a time at the expense of storing data on many disk drives during regular or heroic runs on massively parallel systems. We have already carried out successfully real-time volume-rendering visualization by employing hundreds of processors for a grid with over 25 million unknowns. Both Cartesian and spherical 3D mantle convection are visualized. The volume-rendered images are viewed on a large display device, with many panels holding around 13 million pixels. We will employ a software strategy involving an hierarchical rendering service, which will have as software an Ajax interface for interactive visualization of large data sets on many different platforms from desktop PC’s to hand-held devices, such as the OQO and the Nokia N-800. An option for stereo viewing is also implemented. We have installed a user interface as web application, using Java and Ajax framework in order to achieve over the Internet reasonable accessibility to our ongoing runs. Our goal is to expand the array of interactive devices, which will make it feasible to carry out ubiquitous visualization and monitoring of large-scale simulations or onsite events and to allow for collaborations across oceans.     

额尔齐斯碰撞带东段结构与形成时代

阿尔泰地体与萨吾尔岛弧之间的额尔齐斯碰撞带其结构与形成时代是中亚造山带构造演化研究的热点问题之一。本文报道了额尔齐斯碰撞带东段结构与形成时代的研究结果。新的结果显示:额尔齐斯碰撞带东段由4个走向NWNNW陡立的韧性变形带组成,剖面上呈扇状挤压变形的结构;这4个韧性变形带的应变类型为收缩应变与平面应变;片理带的变形从宏观到微观都表现出对称的结构,不同变形带不同地段可具变化的流动方向而表现出"奶油饼结构",其可能整体形成于共轴挤压机制;玉勒肯与老山口韧性变形带花岗闪长质糜棱岩、花岗闪长质超糜棱岩中变质重结晶锆石U-Pb定年结果显示韧性变形时间约为360Ma。这可能意味着早石炭世时卡拉先格尔地区已进入碰撞阶段,即萨吾尔岛弧与阿尔泰地体间在360Ma时已发生碰撞。